CALL FOR PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS

Oman Authority for Academic Accreditation and Quality Assurance of Education

CALL FOR PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS

Oman Authority for Academic Accreditation and Quality Assurance of Education (OAAAQA) has convened an Institutional Standards Assessment Panel to undertake an Institutional Standards Assessment (ISA-IR) of the College of Banking and Financial Studies. The ISA determines the HEI’s ability to meet OAAAQA internationally benchmarked external standards and criteria applicable to its context. The standards and criteria are available on OAAAQA website (www.oaaaqa.gov.om ). The ISA involves a comprehensive self-assessment by the HEI resulting in an Institutional Standards Assessment Application (ISAA), followed by an external review by an ISA Panel. The process results in the publication of the final ratings of applicable standards and criteria and the Accreditation Outcome of the HEI on OAAAQA website.

As part of its deliberations, the ISA Panel invites submissions from interested persons. Submissions may cover any issue relevant to the ISA. A submission will be accepted by the ISA Panel only under the following conditions:

·         It must be sent by email to Dr Kiran Gopakumar Rajalekshmi (dr.kiran@oaaaqa.gov.om), IR Review Director, by no later than Thursday 1^st of May 2025

·         It must include the name, position, organisation (HEI, workplace, etc.) and contact details of the person/s making the submission. This information is treated in confidence. Anonymous submissions will not be considered by the ISA Panel under any circumstances.

·         The person/s making the submission must be willing to participate in a telephone interview should the ISA Panel consider such a discussion to be necessary.

·         The submission should address aspects of the College of Banking and Financial Studies activities that will assist the ISA Panel in forming conclusions about whether standards have been met. It should contain specific evidence for any claims being made. Vague statements or allegations will not be pursued by the ISA Panel.

·         The submission should not refer to personal grievances or single out individual members of staff (the ISA Panel has no mandate to address grievances).

·         The submission (excluding any particular corroborating evidence) should be no more than 1,000 words (two sides of an A4 page in length).

All submissions are confidential in the sense that the IR Panel needs to be able to use the information provided in submissions, but will not reveal their source. If the IR Panel chooses to investigate a public submission, it is only as part of the overall IR, and not in terms of the details of a particular complaint. The ISA Panel will not make any response or report to the person/s making the submission.

Staff and students of College of Banking and Financial Studies may wish to contact Dr. Yousuf Mohamed Al Balushi, Director of Planning & Quality Assurance department at the college, for further information about the HEI’s preparations.

For more general inquiries about OAAAQA or ISA, you can contact Mr Mustafa Abdallah Al Rawahi, on mustafa.alrawahi@oaaaqa.gov.om or visit www.oaaaqa.gov.om .